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Tuesday, 25 September 2012

The Noizy Indie Social Club festival of music - 22/09/12 (Cumbernauld)

A theatre
is to my mind a magical place.

Its
entrance should be a doorway that leads us to a world that equally
entertains and educates, a safe haven where stories wild and
wonderful are conjured from the air itself.

It should
be the gateway to an alternate reality that resides on the other side
of the looking glass, the landscape that lurks behind the furs in the
wardrobe, or even a world that exists in a galaxy far away.

Anything,
and everything that can be imagined, should find some sanctuary
within its walls, and this yin and yang of reality and fantasy is
well worn by the Cumbernauld Theatre.

A place
that I had never been to until this day.

From the
outside it's nothing more than a run of old working cottages, but
once you enter its small doors it challenges your perceptions, and
Tardis like, opens up to a vast space that accommodates a full seated
theatre, a smaller studio, two bars and more.

There's
no grand foyer, and no gilded pillars, but instead a fully
functioning theatre that could lend itself to making any dream come
true.

A truly
wonderful space for the people of Cumbernauld.

On this
day it wasn't to be hosting a theatre production, but instead the
debut of the Noizy Indie Social Clubs - hopefully annual - music
festival.

We had
arrived keenly anticipating The OK Social Club and then The Holy
Ghosts to ease us into the day, but unfortunately as we turned up a
change in the line up meant that we had just missed The Holy Ghosts,
who would be headlining a show in King Tuts Wah Wah Hut (Glasgow), in
the evening.

Not an
auspicious start for us as they're hovering at the top of my
'everyone must see this band' list, and whenever I'm asked who in
Scotland has the ability to break out and garner a great deal of
national praise it is these guys, along with a handful of other acts,
that spring to my lips.

However
another is The OK Social Club who could equally grab a share of
national plaudits once their forthcoming album is released.

So the
disappointment that I felt was quickly set aside as they powered
through their set.

Imagine
Julian Casablancas of the Strokes being dragged around the pubs and
clubs of Scotland and then being forced to sit down and write some
songs.

What he
would come up with could possibly sound like The OK Social Club.

Not that
they come across like a Strokes tribute act as the sound of the New
York boys just adds a bit of flavour to the over all pot pourri of
influences that range from rock and roll to traditional rhythm and
blues with a nod to a bit of a punk attitude.

I've said
similar after I had witnessed their live set for the first time, but
the raw ingredients are there for all to see and it does no harm in
highlighting them again.

The main
thought that kept firing around inside my head was why was a band of
this calibre playing so early in the day?

Hanney
were next up, and were the first of the acts I was to see that I knew
nothing about.

Turns out
that they're dance rock hybrid pumping out beats and spitting out
lyrics.

Not
really my cup of tea, but there's no doubting the talent on display.

The
experimentation that the Manchester bands had with dance beats
threads its way through their sound. More Black Grape than Happy
Mondays, and more Sonic Boom Six than Prodigy, but there's nothing
wrong with that, and while I wouldn't run out to buy an album from
them, neither would I necessarily feel the need to run to the hills
when they play either.

If the
personal tastes of anyone run towards this style of music then I'm
sure Hanney will provide the soundtrack to a few good weekends.

Vagabond
Poets were then to provide a sound that I could more naturally
gravitate towards.

This very
young band are playing catch up with bands like The Imagineers and
the Holy Ghosts, and there not too far behind.

I
wouldn't be surprised if there were a few releases by The Coral
skulking about their record collections at home.

Regardless
of their influences they have a pleasant take on the freakbeat/psych
sound, and their mod fashion sense gives them a solid style.

The
highlights for me were the original material they played, with the
low points the covers.

Folsom
Prison Blues is sort of done to death, and while the band were all
together on The Gloria Jones/Soft Cell hit Tainted Love musically,
the vocals didn't quite carry it.

Not that
these two songs served to detract from the over all performance
though.

The young
men in the band are already displaying far more promise than many
others of their age, and it wouldn't surprise me if the next year
sees them attracting a great deal of attention.

Next
Nanobots beamed onto the mains stage to bewilder, confuse and
entertain as they do.

It's all
Devo stranded on the Forbidden Planet after they took a wrong turn on
the way home from a galactic hoe-down hosted by Ming the Merciless in
the restaurant at the end of the universe.

They're
the type of band whose fans wear tinfoil, and not just to stop the
illuminati lizard men from reading their minds.

The type
of band I love.

When you
can get two talented people in a room who are also not shy in showing
off their fun/unbalanced side, you can always guarantee that you will
be entertained, and with the amount of sci-fi lunacy on show I doubt
anyone left their performance without an opinion of it.

I should
have seen The Puzzlers after that, as I had noted them down as not to
be missed, but miss them I did, and instead it was Red Sands who we
caught next.

Now I
have no idea where or when, but I've seen them before.

It's an
eclectic set that they work their way through with many aural turns,
but unlike other bands who try to sample so many styles Red Sands
maintain a solid thread through it all.

Whether
it's psychedelic folk or jangly west coast freakbeat they've pretty
much got it nailed down and the harmonies from the band manage to
elevate their performance to the sublime.

A
fantastic set with the band being well deserving of the turn out they
got.

Yoshi,
who were playing in the seated main auditorium, were the band that I
should have liked, but couldn't.

The
problem wasn't with the music, or the majority of the band.

The
problem was that no matter how good they sounded they had a band
member throw a spanner in the works at every turn due to being
shitfaced.

There's
nothing entertaining about watching someone forget the lyrics, slur
nonsense into the mic and stumble on and off the stage randomly.

His
antics only served to distract from the effort that the rest of the
band were putting in.

It wasn't
funny.

Maybe
it's funny if you are in the band - as no one seemed to have an issue
with it - but the reality check is that if people want to be
entertained in this manner then they can sit at any taxi rank on the
west coast of Scotland between midnight and three am any night
playing a mix tape of The Beastie Boys and Junior Senior and get a
better quality show.

A sad
distraction that did the band no favours.

Unashamedly
showering plaudits on The Starlets wouldn't really do them much
justice.

No matter
how long I waxed lyrically about their performance it still wouldn't
convey who good they are.

They are
the band who provided the first 'you really had to be there' moments.

The
cinematic pop that is their stock in trade is a very attractive
proposition.

If Scott
Walker hadn't gone off the rails then I suspect that he would have
washed up on the shore that The Starlets have encamped on.

Wonderful
stuff, and so good I bought their whole back catalogue.

The River
68's, who I have been gagging to see since first hearing them, were
going to have tough act to follow.

There's
no points where the bands overlap musically, but more so I thought on
an entertaining level they could have fallen short.

Needless
to say I was wrong. The River 68's were everything I expected, and
more.

This is
the band who are the rockers of this generation.

If the
Faces had a party with The Black Crowes then I I'd bet that the
bootleg tapes of their drunken session together would sound like The
River 68's.

Now this
is a band whose singer has some pipes on him.

Southern
soul with some rocknroll ramalama only rarely sounds this good.

Big
stages better beckon for them, or I'll eat the singers hat, and that
was a big hat.

I had
high hopes for The Merrylees who were headlining the studio stage,
but while I was suitably impressed with their first song I was less
so with the second and by the third I had decided it was going to be
a set of diminishing returns.

For all
the hype that has surrounded them it seemed to me that they only
really had one string to their bow and I would have preferred more
shading to what they were doing.

I left
thinking that my opinion was one that would go against the tide of
popular opinion, but while waiting to see The Imagineers I overheard
one person say that they sounded as if they only had one song and
were just changing the lyrics on it, and I ashamed to say I felt glad
that this persons view was met with agreement as it supported my own.

While I'm
sure others would disagree the slot would have been better filled by
either The Holy Ghosts, The OK Social Club or even local young guns
Vagabond Poets.

Finishing
the night was of course The Imagineers, a band whose popularity is
ascending rapidly, and deservedly so.

With US
television appearances tucked under the belts and a global audience
waiting for the debut it would be easy to let it all overwhelm them,
but there's no sign of them failing to take it all in their stride,
or let their feet leave the ground.

Infectiously
foot stompingly good they powered through a short set that touched on
the songs featured on their debut ep and the more recent double a
sided single while providing us all with a sneak preview of some
unreleased tracks that did the job in ensuring us that everything is
still on track for them.

If you
could take a snapshot of any second of their performance it would be
heavy with the promise of success.

For many
this is the band who could finally put Scotland on the musical map
with their talent not being constrained by our nations borders.

It's all
in the laps of the Gods, but with luck all the pieces will fall into
place for them and they will reap the rewards of all the hard work
they have been putting in.

If they
do I doubt anyone could lay claim that their success would be ill
deserved.

A big
thank you has to go out to Brian Deanie for being the person who had
the dream and welcomed everyone to the reality of it, and the
Cumbernauld Theatre for hosting it with a smile. It would be fair to
say that the bar staff, security and everyone involved from the
theatre were a credit to Cumbernauld.

Thanks to
Jim McKellen of the Puzzlers for his company on the day, and everyone
involved with the Noizy Indie Social Club, because in all of my years
of participating in live music as a spectator I don't think I have
ever attended such a well run all-dayer.